Mercedes-AMG Project One

At the moment the holy trinity of hyper-cars revolves around the Ferrari LaFerrari, the Porsche 918, and the McLaren P1. All of them mighty in their own right and amongst the finest and most powerful automobiles on the planet. That’s not to say they don’t receive worthy opposition from the likes of Koenigsegg, Bugatti, and special edition Lamborghini’s. There is however one latecomer to the hyper / mega-car industry… Mercedes-AMG. And they threw one contender into the mix that looks like it’ll have no issue hanging with the big boys. The Project ONE. Participating in Formula 1 allows Ferrari and McLaren to bring to the table unique industry leading tech to their road-going counterparts so it makes perfect sense that Mercedes-AMG likewise aims to follow suit with the Project ONE.

Many of the industry leaders within the hyper-car and mega-car market tout their ability to bring race car performance to the street yet very few are uniquely qualified to do just that. Mercedes-AMG is one of those currently able to do so. It’s not to say that any of the other brands don’t participate in Motorsport however with Formula 1 being the pinnacle of race car engineering and design, it only makes sense that it would give the Project ONE an edge among it’s peers. As far as the drivetrain is concerned the tech is similar to that found in the P1 and 918 combining a turbocharged engine with electric motors on all four wheels. The big difference however is that the engine being turbocharged is a 1.6 Liter V6 that is a direct derivative of the one used in the AMG-Petronas F1 car. The small displacement lets you merrily unwind the motor all the way up to 11,000 RPM and with all motors combined the total system output is 1,000 PS. Consequently, the Project ONE quite literally is a Formula 1 car to be used on the road. The cabin is minimalist yet luxurious. Drivers sit directly on the chassis wrapped in leather, carbon fiber, and other exotic materials, the doors open vertically, and when you’re not hitting absurd speeds you’re able to cruise along comfortably with an all new 8-speed transmission. Needless to say, we can’t wait to see this in action. Photos via Mercedes-Benz USA.